Enlisted Camping Trip

Posted on Mon Jul 13th, 2026 @ 5:43am by Chief Petty Officer Heath Stoudemire & Petty Officer, 1st Class Gabrielle Costillo & Petty Officer, 3rd Class James Greene & Crewman Darla Meadows

850 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: New Years on Denobula
Location: Denobula: Trelis Mountain Range

Heath Stoudemire had organized a camping trip among the enlisted in the helm department. Over the years, he had considered them to be family and the last thing he wanted to do was spend time among strangers on Denobula. Minus Darla who never had never spent a day sleeping outdoors, outside of Starfleet Basic Training the department had agreed to a few days out camping. Never one to be left out, Crewman Darla Meadows had agreed to attend the trip.

Surrounding a campfire was four, one person tents. Around the fire the hikers sat in folding chairs roasting hotdogs and ate chili beans they had cooked on the fire. Gabrielle Costillo sat back and reminisced to when her late grandfather would take her and her siblings camping throughout the year. "We should definitely make camping on whatever world we visit a thing."

"You mean like a ritual?" James inquired.

Darla looked over at James. "I seriously will not make camping a ritual. Can't we thinking of a team building ritual like going to the spa?"

"I'm fairly certain that's the opposite of team building," Heath responded with a laugh. "There's something about being in the wild and pushing your limits, which is good for the spirit."

"In the wild with technology," Darla retorted.

"We're not entirely savages after all," the Chief Petty Officer joked.

Greene simply shrugged. "I would like to think that I have some savage like tendencies.

Everyone around the fire couldn't help to laugh. Waving off the others, James Greene placed another hotdog on a stick, roasting it over the fire. Out of everyone in the helm department, James was definitely the clown among the group. After graduating Starfleet Basic Training, he was assigned to the Meridian and had been here ever since. Six years, and he honestly enjoyed being here. But eventually, James knew that he would need to move on to likely progress in his career. The Chief Petty Officer was someone that he just didn't respect, but someone that he wanted his own career to mirror.

Gabrielle Costillo simply shook her head at James at antics. There was something about the man who reminding her of her brother Lucas. She was number five of five children, and Lucas was number four of five. Two years older than yourself. As a child Lucas always was in to something all in the name of fun and clowning around. Right along with him, Gaby was into everything he did. He was the fun brother. They're parents often took them and the three older siblings on camping trips several times throughout the year. The ritual was started by her grandfather and carried on after his passing. Often times her mother would joke that it was their way of preventing them from tearing up the house.

Fourteen years in Starfleet and this was her second assignment. It was only a matter of time, before a transfer would likely have to take place. Especially if she was wanting to be promoted to Chief Petty Officer. In all honesty, Gaby didn't mind serving under Stoudemire. But she felt that it was time to be the boss over the enlisted in some department. Even as a shuttlebay tech, she had definitely enough technically skills to perhaps transfer under engineering. The opportunities were out there, she just needed to make it happen.

Smacking a large bug, Darla growled as she spread around her surrounding area with a bug repellant. Her time in Starfleet was five years and was the lowest ranking in the Department. As much as she had wished to be anywhere else for her shoreleave, Meadows still felt like she had to go along just to earn the respect of her team. Growing up in prominent family made most people she encountered in Starfleet not take her very seriously at first.

Heath smiled at the Crewman who seemed to be fighting for her life. The next group trip would be less rugged and something that he knew she would likely enjoy. Regardless of how the outdoors was treating Darla, she was still a being a good sport about everything. "Darla, I can assure you that the next opportunity for the group to get together. We'll give you an option more of your liking."

"Thank you. But this isn't so bad, once you get past the bugs and the strange noises coming from the darkness in the woods. And I'm going to take you up that offer. So, all of you need to prepare for something involving skis and a ski lounge."

Gaby raised her hot cider in approval. "Now that's a vacation that I can get behind."

"That would be a new one for me," James admitted. "I could get behind that plan."

Taking a sip of his cider, Stoudemire smiled at the group. "The next chance at shoreleave a ski trip it is then."

=================
Chief Petty Officer Heath Stoudemire
Shuttlebay Manager
USS Meridian
,
Petty Officer 1st Class Gabrielle Costillo
Shuttlebay Technician
USS Meridian

Petty Officer 3rd Class James Greene
Shuttlebay Technician
USS Meridian

Crewman Darla Meadows
Shuttlebay Technician
USS Meridian

 

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